Leonardo's Bride
Encyclopedia
Leonardo's Bride was an Australian pop
band that formed in Sydney
, New South Wales
, Australia
in 1989. It consisted of singer Abby Dobson
(lead vocal and acoustic guitar
), Dean Manning (electric guitar
, piano
, wurlitzer
and hammond
), Jon Howell (drum
s) and Patrick Wong (bass, backing vocals and cello
). They released two albums, Angel Blood in 1997 and Open Sesame in 2000, before splitting in 2001.
They were nominated for three ARIA Awards at the 1997 awards
with their album Angel Blood and single "Even When I'm Sleeping
". "Even When I'm Sleeping" was voted "song of the year" at the 1998 APRA Awards
.
night at the Crossroads theatre in Sydney, Australia. A year later Dobson and Manning traveled around Europe
and America
busking
and playing in clubs and bars, doing 250 shows over sixteen months. Some of the gigs included; Sin-e in New York
, Les voultes de lutece in Paris
, Hen & Chickens in London
and Zorba's bar in Santorini
, Greece
. Then in 1992 the bands new line-up had its first performance in Sydney with, Dobson on vocals, Manning on guitar
, bouzouki
and vocals, Alex Hewetson on double bass
and Antero Ceschin on drum
s. They released their first EP
in 1993 entitled Leonardo's Bride (1993). In 1994, Patrick Hyndes and Jon Howell joined the band and saw the release of their second EP in 1995 titled Temperamental Friend (1995). In that same year, 1995, they toured with The Badloves
in Australia and the Big Geraniums in Ireland
.
", where the band saw commercial success. "Even When I'm Sleeping" went to peak in the top five on the Australian ARIA Singles Chart and was nominated for "Single of the Year" at the ARIA Music Awards of 1997
. The song also went on to win "Song of the Year" at the APRA Awards of 1998. Angel Blood was released in Australia on 28 April 1997, was critically acclaimed and peaked in the top thirty on the Australian ARIA Albums Chart. It was also nominated for "Breakthrough Artist - Album" and "Best Cover Art" at the ARIA Music Awards of 1997. "Buddha Baby" was the last single to be released from the album and peaked in the top forty in Australia. 1997 also saw the band tour with Everything But the Girl
in Australia.
The group indefinitely went off the road in 2001 after a show in Johor Bahru, Malaysia. Dobson has since pursued a solo career. Her first single as a solo artist was "Don't Ask for More", which displayed a more radio-friendly sound than the band. The song was featured on the soundtrack of the hit show The Secret Life of Us
. The second show soundtrack featured another song by Abby, "I'm Not Missing You". Abby was also featured on Paul Mac
's album 3000 Feet High (2001). In late 2007, Abby released her first solo album, Rise Up, preceded by the first single, "Shining Star".
Dean Manning, the groups' principal songwriter released a solo album "Diplomatic" (2003) and went on to form "Holidays On Ice' with Angie Hart. They have released 2 albums - "Playing Boyfriends & Girlfriends" (2005) & "Pillage Before Plunder" (2009). Manning who created the Leonardo's Bride album covers now regularly exhibits his paintings.
Jon Howell formed the successful blues outfit "Chase The Sun" releasing their self titled debut album in 2009. Patrick went on to study medicine and currently practices in Newcastle, Australia.
In May 2001 "Even When I'm Sleeping", written by guitarist-keyboardist, Dean Manning, was selected by Australasian Performing Right Association (APRA) as one of the Top 30 Australian songs of all time.[5]
Pop music
Pop music is usually understood to be commercially recorded music, often oriented toward a youth market, usually consisting of relatively short, simple songs utilizing technological innovations to produce new variations on existing themes.- Definitions :David Hatch and Stephen Millward define pop...
band that formed in Sydney
Sydney
Sydney is the most populous city in Australia and the state capital of New South Wales. Sydney is located on Australia's south-east coast of the Tasman Sea. As of June 2010, the greater metropolitan area had an approximate population of 4.6 million people...
, New South Wales
New South Wales
New South Wales is a state of :Australia, located in the east of the country. It is bordered by Queensland, Victoria and South Australia to the north, south and west respectively. To the east, the state is bordered by the Tasman Sea, which forms part of the Pacific Ocean. New South Wales...
, Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
in 1989. It consisted of singer Abby Dobson
Abby Dobson (Australian musician)
Abby Dobson is an Australian singer and musician. Dobson was the lead vocalist for the pop band Leonardo's Bride.Dobson has often collaborated with musician Paul Mac on a few tracks, including "Gonna Miss You" from the 2001 album 3000 Feet High.She recently appeared on i98fm with Lachlan Kitchen...
(lead vocal and acoustic guitar
Acoustic guitar
An acoustic guitar is a guitar that uses only an acoustic sound board. The air in this cavity resonates with the vibrational modes of the string and at low frequencies, which depend on the size of the box, the chamber acts like a Helmholtz resonator, increasing or decreasing the volume of the sound...
), Dean Manning (electric guitar
Electric guitar
An electric guitar is a guitar that uses the principle of direct electromagnetic induction to convert vibrations of its metal strings into electric audio signals. The signal generated by an electric guitar is too weak to drive a loudspeaker, so it is amplified before sending it to a loudspeaker...
, piano
Piano
The piano is a musical instrument played by means of a keyboard. It is one of the most popular instruments in the world. Widely used in classical and jazz music for solo performances, ensemble use, chamber music and accompaniment, the piano is also very popular as an aid to composing and rehearsal...
, wurlitzer
Wurlitzer
The Rudolph Wurlitzer Company, usually referred to simply as Wurlitzer, was an American company that produced stringed instruments, woodwinds, brass instruments, theatre organs, band organs, orchestrions, electronic organs, electric pianos and jukeboxes....
and hammond
Hammond organ
The Hammond organ is an electric organ invented by Laurens Hammond in 1934 and manufactured by the Hammond Organ Company. While the Hammond organ was originally sold to churches as a lower-cost alternative to the wind-driven pipe organ, in the 1960s and 1970s it became a standard keyboard...
), Jon Howell (drum
Drum
The drum is a member of the percussion group of musical instruments, which is technically classified as the membranophones. Drums consist of at least one membrane, called a drumhead or drum skin, that is stretched over a shell and struck, either directly with the player's hands, or with a...
s) and Patrick Wong (bass, backing vocals and cello
Cello
The cello is a bowed string instrument with four strings tuned in perfect fifths. It is a member of the violin family of musical instruments, which also includes the violin, viola, and double bass. Old forms of the instrument in the Baroque era are baryton and viol .A person who plays a cello is...
). They released two albums, Angel Blood in 1997 and Open Sesame in 2000, before splitting in 2001.
They were nominated for three ARIA Awards at the 1997 awards
ARIA Music Awards of 1997
The eleventh Annual Australian Recording Industry Association Music Awards were held on 22 September 1997 at the Capitol Theatre in Sydney. The event was hosted by Australian actor–comedian Paul McDermott, with presenters Elle McFeast, Kylie Minogue, Ben Folds and The Presidents of the United...
with their album Angel Blood and single "Even When I'm Sleeping
Even When I'm Sleeping
"Even When I'm Sleeping" is a song by Australian Indie rock and Indie pop group Leonardo's Bride, which was the second single from their first studio album, Angel Blood...
". "Even When I'm Sleeping" was voted "song of the year" at the 1998 APRA Awards
APRA Awards
The APRA Music Awards are several award ceremonies run in Australia and New Zealand by Australasian Performing Right Association to recognise songwriting skills, sales and airplay performance by its members annually....
.
Formation (1989–1995)
Leonardo's Bride first came about in 1989, when Abby Dobson and Dean Manning performed for the first time at an open mikeOpen mike
An open mike or open mic is a live show where audience members may perform at the microphone. Usually, the performers sign up in advance for a time slot with the host or master of ceremonies. These events can be focused on poetry and the spoken word, music, comedy, and the open format of open...
night at the Crossroads theatre in Sydney, Australia. A year later Dobson and Manning traveled around Europe
Europe
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...
and America
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
busking
Busking
Street performance or busking is the practice of performing in public places, for gratuities, which are generally in the form of money and edibles...
and playing in clubs and bars, doing 250 shows over sixteen months. Some of the gigs included; Sin-e in New York
New York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
, Les voultes de lutece in Paris
Paris
Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
, Hen & Chickens in London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
and Zorba's bar in Santorini
Santorini
Santorini , officially Thira , is an island located in the southern Aegean Sea, about southeast from Greece's mainland. It is the largest island of a small, circular archipelago which bears the same name and is the remnant of a volcanic caldera...
, Greece
Greece
Greece , officially the Hellenic Republic , and historically Hellas or the Republic of Greece in English, is a country in southeastern Europe....
. Then in 1992 the bands new line-up had its first performance in Sydney with, Dobson on vocals, Manning on guitar
Guitar
The guitar is a plucked string instrument, usually played with fingers or a pick. The guitar consists of a body with a rigid neck to which the strings, generally six in number, are attached. Guitars are traditionally constructed of various woods and strung with animal gut or, more recently, with...
, bouzouki
Bouzouki
The bouzouki , is a musical instrument with Greek origin in the lute family. A mainstay of modern Greek music, the front of the body is flat and is usually heavily inlaid with mother-of-pearl. The instrument is played with a plectrum and has a sharp metallic sound, reminiscent of a mandolin but...
and vocals, Alex Hewetson on double bass
Double bass
The double bass, also called the string bass, upright bass, standup bass or contrabass, is the largest and lowest-pitched bowed string instrument in the modern symphony orchestra, with strings usually tuned to E1, A1, D2 and G2...
and Antero Ceschin on drum
Drum
The drum is a member of the percussion group of musical instruments, which is technically classified as the membranophones. Drums consist of at least one membrane, called a drumhead or drum skin, that is stretched over a shell and struck, either directly with the player's hands, or with a...
s. They released their first EP
Extended play
An EP is a musical recording which contains more music than a single, but is too short to qualify as a full album or LP. The term EP originally referred only to specific types of vinyl records other than 78 rpm standard play records and LP records, but it is now applied to mid-length Compact...
in 1993 entitled Leonardo's Bride (1993). In 1994, Patrick Hyndes and Jon Howell joined the band and saw the release of their second EP in 1995 titled Temperamental Friend (1995). In that same year, 1995, they toured with The Badloves
The Badloves
The Badloves is an Australian band that formed in 1990, dissolved in 1997 and reformed in 2008.-1990:The Badloves were formed by frontman Michael Spiby in Melbourne during January 1990 under the name DC3. The band consisted of Spiby , his brother John Spiby , John Housden , Stephen O'Prey and...
in Australia and the Big Geraniums in Ireland
Ireland
Ireland is an island to the northwest of continental Europe. It is the third-largest island in Europe and the twentieth-largest island on Earth...
.
Angel Blood (1996–1998)
The year 1996 saw the recording of their debut album, Angel Blood, and the release of the album's first single "So Brand New" in Australia. It wasn't until the release of the album's second single, "Even When I'm SleepingEven When I'm Sleeping
"Even When I'm Sleeping" is a song by Australian Indie rock and Indie pop group Leonardo's Bride, which was the second single from their first studio album, Angel Blood...
", where the band saw commercial success. "Even When I'm Sleeping" went to peak in the top five on the Australian ARIA Singles Chart and was nominated for "Single of the Year" at the ARIA Music Awards of 1997
ARIA Music Awards of 1997
The eleventh Annual Australian Recording Industry Association Music Awards were held on 22 September 1997 at the Capitol Theatre in Sydney. The event was hosted by Australian actor–comedian Paul McDermott, with presenters Elle McFeast, Kylie Minogue, Ben Folds and The Presidents of the United...
. The song also went on to win "Song of the Year" at the APRA Awards of 1998. Angel Blood was released in Australia on 28 April 1997, was critically acclaimed and peaked in the top thirty on the Australian ARIA Albums Chart. It was also nominated for "Breakthrough Artist - Album" and "Best Cover Art" at the ARIA Music Awards of 1997. "Buddha Baby" was the last single to be released from the album and peaked in the top forty in Australia. 1997 also saw the band tour with Everything But the Girl
Everything but the Girl
Everything but the Girl was a two-person English band, formed in Hull during 1981, consisting of lead singer and occasional guitarist Tracey Thorn and guitarist, keyboardist, and singer Ben Watt . They are currently inactive although vocalist Tracey Thorn hinted that they may reform someday...
in Australia.
The group indefinitely went off the road in 2001 after a show in Johor Bahru, Malaysia. Dobson has since pursued a solo career. Her first single as a solo artist was "Don't Ask for More", which displayed a more radio-friendly sound than the band. The song was featured on the soundtrack of the hit show The Secret Life of Us
The Secret Life of Us
The Secret Life of Us was a television drama series set in the beachside suburb of St Kilda, Melbourne, Australia. The series was produced by Southern Star Entertainment and screened in Australia from 2001 to 2005 on Network Ten and on Channel 4 in the UK...
. The second show soundtrack featured another song by Abby, "I'm Not Missing You". Abby was also featured on Paul Mac
Paul Mac
Paul Mac is a musician, producer and music remixer from Sydney, Australia. He was classically trained at Sydney's Conservatorium of Music. Paul Mac formed the bands Smash Mac Mac, Itch-e And Scratch-e, The Lab, and The Dissociatives, as well as releasing two records under his own name...
's album 3000 Feet High (2001). In late 2007, Abby released her first solo album, Rise Up, preceded by the first single, "Shining Star".
Dean Manning, the groups' principal songwriter released a solo album "Diplomatic" (2003) and went on to form "Holidays On Ice' with Angie Hart. They have released 2 albums - "Playing Boyfriends & Girlfriends" (2005) & "Pillage Before Plunder" (2009). Manning who created the Leonardo's Bride album covers now regularly exhibits his paintings.
Jon Howell formed the successful blues outfit "Chase The Sun" releasing their self titled debut album in 2009. Patrick went on to study medicine and currently practices in Newcastle, Australia.
In May 2001 "Even When I'm Sleeping", written by guitarist-keyboardist, Dean Manning, was selected by Australasian Performing Right Association (APRA) as one of the Top 30 Australian songs of all time.[5]
Albums
| Year | Album details | Chart positions | Certifications Music recording sales certification Music recording sales certification is a system of certifying that a music recording has shipped or sold a certain number of copies, where the threshold quantity varies by type and by nation or territory .Almost all countries follow variations of the RIAA certification categories,... (sales thresholds) |
|
|---|---|---|---|---|
| AUS Australia Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area... |
NZ New Zealand New Zealand is an island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses and numerous smaller islands. The country is situated some east of Australia across the Tasman Sea, and roughly south of the Pacific island nations of New Caledonia, Fiji, and Tonga... |
|||
| 1997 | Angel Blood
|
25 | 35 |
Australian Recording Industry Association The Australian Recording Industry Association is a trade group representing the Australian recording industry which was established in 1983 by six major record companies, EMI, Festival, CBS, RCA, WEA and Universal replacing the Association of Australian Record Manufacturers which was formed in 1956... certification: Gold. |
| 2000 | Open Sesame
|
— | — |
EPs
| Year | Album |
|---|---|
| 1993 | Leonardo's Bride
|
| 1994 | Temperamental Friend
PolyGram PolyGram was the name of the major label recording company started by Philips from as a holding company for its music interests in 1945. In 1999 it was sold to Seagram and merged into Universal Music Group.-Hollandsche Decca Distributie , 1929-1950:... |
Singles
| Year | Single | Chart positions | Album | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| AUS Australia Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area... |
NZ New Zealand New Zealand is an island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses and numerous smaller islands. The country is situated some east of Australia across the Tasman Sea, and roughly south of the Pacific island nations of New Caledonia, Fiji, and Tonga... |
|||
| 1996 | "So Brand New" | — | — | Angel Blood |
| 1997 | "Even When I'm Sleeping Even When I'm Sleeping "Even When I'm Sleeping" is a song by Australian Indie rock and Indie pop group Leonardo's Bride, which was the second single from their first studio album, Angel Blood... " |
4 | 34 | |
| "Buddha Baby" | 40 | — | ||
| 2000 | "Sonic" | — | — | Open Sesame |
ARIA Awards
| Year | Award | Work | Result |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1997 ARIA Music Awards of 1997 The eleventh Annual Australian Recording Industry Association Music Awards were held on 22 September 1997 at the Capitol Theatre in Sydney. The event was hosted by Australian actor–comedian Paul McDermott, with presenters Elle McFeast, Kylie Minogue, Ben Folds and The Presidents of the United... |
Single of the Year | "Even When I'm Sleeping" | Nominated |
| Breakthrough Artist - Album | Angel Blood | Nominated | |
| Best Cover Art | Nominated |
APRA Awards
| Year | Award | Work | Result |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1998 | Song of the Year | "Even When I'm Sleeping" | Won |
| Most Performed Work | '"Even When I'm Sleeping"' | Won | |